Funding opportunity for journalists covering global health

The European Journalism Centre today opens the final call for applications for its Global Health Journalism Grant Programmes for Germany and France. Another 18 to 20 grants worth €15,000 on average each will be awarded in these last rounds, looking to advance the coverage of international health, health policy and development issues in German and French media.

About the programmes

Since the launch of the Global Health Journalism Grant Programmes for Germany (2016) and France (2018), we have funded 65 journalistic projects with around 800,000 euros that brought under-reported global health stories to the attention of audiences in Germany and France.

Stories on the role of midwives in Bangladesh, the fight against the silent killer diabetes in West Africa, or birth defects through cousin marriages in Pakistan, to name but a few, have had an impact on a wide spectrum of society, ranging from audience engagement to donations to NGOs.

Our grantees’ work has won journalism awards such as the Journalism Prize of the German Industry (Ernst-Schneider-Preis) for this project on lead poisoning of communities around a battery recycling plant in Nigeria, the Memento Prize for Neglected Diseases, related to this reporting about solutions to failed public healthcare systems, and the Journalism Prize of the Central Committee for the Fight against Tuberculosis, for this project about improved access to healthcare in India.

What you need to know to apply

These two grant programmes are designed for freelancers and staff journalists with a proven track record in covering development, global health or science. Applicants need to provide a letter of intent for publication from at least one relevant media outlet in Germany or France. There is no citizenship, nationality or residence restriction. Before applying, please read the eligibility criteria for the German call or the French call carefully.

Entries need to be submitted online by way of this application for the German call, and this application for the French one.

The deadline for the submission of proposals is 5 February 2020 (22:00 CET).

Selection criteria include originality, focus & balance of the chosen topic, audience reach and expected impact on the targeted audiences. Award decisions will be taken by the EJC, and editorial independence will be rigorously safeguarded. Applicants will be notified by email on the status of their applications by the end of February.

Any questions?

If you have further questions about your application, we are organising “Ask-Me-Anything” sessions: on 7 January 2020 for those applying for the German grant; and on 8 January 2020 for those applying for the French programme.

To book a time slot, send us an email before 3 January 2020 to healthreporting@journalismgrants.org for the German call; and to

sante@journalismgrants.org for the French one.

Besides having these one-on-ones, a detailed set of responses to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) can be found here for the German call, and here for the French one. Alternatively, you can also contact the EJC team at healthreporting@journalismgrants.org for the German programme and at sante@journalismgrants.org for the French grant.

This initiative to enable journalists to produce in-depth reporting on global health is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Website: http://journalismgrants.org
Facebook: http://facebook.com/journalism.grants
Twitter: http://twitter.com/journagrants
Newsletter: Funding newsletter
Website EJC: http://www.ejc.net

Further reading

For background on the Global Health Journalism Grant Programmes, check out these posts:

• 27 global health reporting projects that we can’t wait to see published
• How journalists are overcoming the challenges of global health reporting
• Keep an eye out for these ten global health stories in German media
• Ten stories on global health that will impact media audiences in France
• Some common mistakes when applying for a journalism grant — and how to avoid them
• Cross-border journalism: The successful example of a German-Indian collaboration